Question about studing Polish history and culture

Dear all,I'm a Chinese student and I just graduate from my university. My major is International relations and I used to be an exchange student in Warsaw university for four months. After that I was deeply attractived by the history and culture of Poland. So I'm planning to study humanities in a Polish university. I know that Warsaw university is the best in Poland but I prefer Jagiellonian university. Because it is one of the earlist universities in Europe and I like krakow. But the problem is I don't know which one of them has a better reputation in humanities and if I need to take Polish language class first. So if there any one who can answer my question? Thanks a lot

Well, Zihao Song, although one city I've never visited, Jagiellonian University in Cracow has Polish For Foreigners offered at any level and seems to have a modestly good reputation.

I only know this because the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York, at that time in conjunction with Hunter College, used to have exchange programs with the above school every summer and I heard only positive things. I almost went, but unfortunately I couldn't coordinate the trip with my concluding grad program at City University.

No, Delph, he's merely being his usual trolling, !@#$-hole little petty self, that's all! Ignore him:-) He knows full well that I above all know Polish diacritics, but just happen to be keyboard challenged ever since PF removed that option!

@delphiandomineIt's a mistake. Actually in Polish you should avoid starting the sentence with one sylable words all together and not just 1 letter ones.Two foreign idiots that can't speak Polish try to teach me basics lololo

No, Delph, he's merely being his usual trolling, !@#$-hole little petty self, that's all! Ignore him:-) He knows full well that I above all know Polish diacritics, but just happen to be keyboard challenged ever since PF removed that option!

Actually in Polish you should avoid starting the sentence with one sylable words all together and not just 1 letter ones.

Wherever did you get that idea? No Polish writers I have ever read seem to know about those rules, and writing according to those rules would result in some rather bizarre reading. Can you give an example of even a single writer who follows your so-called rule? Of course not.

I highly doubt you were, unless, perhaps, you had a teacher with some pretty bizarre ideas of their own. And no, it is neither "easy" or desirable, to follow those rules without sounding very odd indeed. Nor is their any possible motive to do so, in Polish or in any other language on this planet. There isn't anything "neat" about it. I can guarantee that will not find mention of your "rules" in any Polish style guide.

ye there is a kind of unthinking person that just bleats out the 'rules' that some teacher has told them 20 years ago. A popular one here is 'never end a sentence with a preposition'.. really? who says? This is the kind of bullshit up with which I will not put.

Just looked at my copy of Lalka, the paragon of good style in Polish, and the whole book starts with "W". As does the next sentence. There's not a single page in the whole book that does not have a sentence that starts with a single-syllable word.

A popular one here is 'never end a sentence with a preposition'.. really? who says? This is the kind of bullshit up with which I will not put.

Exactly. Believing that to impertinently split infinitives is wrong, was based on the old idea that Latin is somehow superior to Germanic languages and that English needs to unfortunately fit itself to the principles of Latin. Just because Latin didn't, to be 'pure', English shouldn't.

Much the same in Polish - some very archaic ideas still float around. The grammar of a language is a description of how it's used, not a set of set of rules that can never evolve or be challenged.

the whole book starts with "W". As does the next sentence.

Yes, tons of such examples. Sometimes sentences start with Ów or Im too - uncomfortable for a learner, however perfectly possible (and in current use) in Polish.